Arcade Fire to play Prague’s O2 Arena

Arcade Fire will be coming to Prague’s O2 Arena on June 15, 2018, as part of a handful of European summer dates on their Infinite Content tour. Tickets go on sale to Live Nation Club members Dec. 13 at 10 am, and to the general public Dec. 15 at 10 am. It will be the band’s first appearance in Prague.

The Canadian indie rock band, founded in 2001, is currently made up of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, along with Win's younger brother William Butler, Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member Sarah Neufeld, percussionist Tiwill Duprate and saxophonist Stuart Bogie.

The band’s more recent album is Everything Now, released in July 2017. It got five-star reviews from The Independent and NME, and Rolling Stone gave it four out of five stars. Some other critics were less favorable, with Pitchfork giving it 5.6 out 10 and Entertainment Weekly a B+.

The album was produced by Arcade Fire with Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk and Pulp bassist Steve Mackey, along with several co-producers.

Part of the promotion of the album was satirical, using social media to spread some misinformation about the album and the band.

Arcade Fire is influenced by a range of music from punk to French chanson. To create their sound use guitar, drums, bass guitar, piano, violin, viola, cello, double bass, xylophone, glockenspiel, keyboard, synthesizer, French horn, accordion, harp, mandolin and hurdy-gurdy.

Everything Now was the band’s fifth album. Their debut was Funeral, released in 2004 and 2005. It made several lists as one of the top albums of the year. The album and the band were nominated for several awards as well.

The followup album Neon Bible from 2007 was a big commercial as well as critical success, reaching No. 2 on the US Billboard Top 200.

Their 2010 album Suburbs debuted at No. 1 on the Irish Albums Chart, the UK Albums Chart, and the US Billboard 200 chart. The band won Album of the Year at the 53rd Grammy Awards, becoming the first indie act to do so. It also won the Polaris Music Prize and the Best International Album at the 2011 BRIT Awards, among other prizes.

The band’s fourth album, Reflektor, came out in 2013 to good reviews and hit No. 1 in the US Billboard Top 200 and UK Albums charts, among others. It won Album of the Year and Alternative Album of the Year at the Juno Awards in Canada.

Arcade Fire members William Butler and Owen Pallett had an Oscar nomination for Best Original score for Spike Jonze's 2013 science-fiction romance film Her. The score has never been officially released.

The band has been active in promoting awareness of conditions in Haiti. Régine Chassagne, who is of Haitian descent, co-founded Kanpe, a foundation that brings together Haitians, members of the diaspora, friends of Haiti, and other partners to enable families to escape the cycle of poverty and stand on their own.

The band has also donated money from specific song sales and concerts to support Haitian charities.